Russian Plane Crash Kills 44 Passengers, 6 Crew

A Russian passenger airliner crashed Sunday night while trying to land at the airport in the city of Kazan, killing all 50 people aboard, officials said.

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A Russian plane originating from Moscow has crashed at the airport in Kazan, reportedly killing all 50 people on board.

A spokeswoman for the Emergencies Ministry, Irina Rossius, said there were 44 passengers and six crew members aboard.

Tatarstan Airlines flight 363 originated from Moscow's Domodedovo airport and was due to land in Kazan.

The plane, a Boeing 737, was reportedly on its second landing attempt when it crashed and caught fire. According to Russian news agencies, the plane's nose hit the runway during the attempted landing.

Witnesses reported a blast as the plane landed.

According to Russian news agency RIA Novosti, Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the government to establish a commission to investigate the crash.

A spokesman for Federal Air Transport Agency Rosaviatsiya told RIA Novosti the pilot tried to perform a go-around after an aborted landing, and the plane crashed. The Kazan airport was closed following the fatal crash.

Russia has had a series of deadly plane crashes in recent years. In December a Russian-made Tupolev plane veered off the end of Moscow's Vnukovo airport and slammed into the slope of a nearby highway. Five people were killed in that crash.

In 2011 a plane crash in Yaroslavl killed 44 people, including an entire professional hockey team. Russian investigators have found that pilots who were involved in two recent airplane crashes that killed 10 and 47 people were intoxicated during the flight.